Thunder down Admirals, 5-4, in OT thriller
7-game homestand concludes Tuesday
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. >> The Thunder threw everything but the kitchen sink at Norfolk as they outshot the Admirals, 50-25, in a dramatic, 5- 4, overtime victory, which extended their points streak to eight straight games on Saturday.
It was the sixth contest in a seven- game homestand that concludes Tuesday, before three straight road dates including a crucial two- game set at Newfoundland, which Adirondack is tied with atop the ECHL’s North Division standings.
Matt Salhany’s goal, his eighth point in the past seven games, won Saturday’s battle 3:23 into a three- on-three overtime session. As one of the Thunder’s fastest skaters, it’s the kind of opportunity he thrives on.
“Especially for me, kind of with the speed, I’m salivating at the mouth wanting to get out there because there’s so much ice,” Salhany said, smiling. “We just made a great play. Eddy (Jonathan Edwardh) drove hard to the net and luckily I could pick up the scraps there.”
Flying down the slot, he lifted
a loose puck past Admirals netminder Ty Reichenbach for the game-winner.
“It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and just being in the right place at the right time,” Salhany said.
The Thunder have now won 11 out of 12 possible points during their lengthy homestand, and are 6- 0-2 in their last eight outings.
“Guys are just bearing down in front of the net,” said team captain James Henry. “Other than power play goals we’re scoring directly in front of the net. We’re outcompeting guys for loose pucks, we’re bearing down on our chances. That kind of stuff is contagious. Guys feed off of that. They see another player outworking somebody and they want to do it themselves the next shift out there.”
Adirondack took a 1- 0 lead 11:09 into the contest on Peter MacArthur’s eighth goal of the year, a slapshot from the right circle, off a cross-ice pass by Edwardh.
But Northfolk scored three unanswered markers to grab a 3-1 lead at 8:04 of the second stanza.
Mike Szmatula triggered the Thunder comeback with a pair of goals four minutes apart, which evened the score, 3-3. The first came with one second left on a power play, one of Adirondack’s three man-ad- vantage goals on the night.
The second came off a pass from Conor Riley, behind the net, who threw the puck out front where Szmatula fired it home while skating down the slot.
“We’re a hardworking team, not overly flashy, but we’re using our speed and work ethic,” Henry said. “That’s what’s getting us back in the game.”
Adirondack started the third period with 3: 50 left on a 5-minute power play after Norfolk’s Brandon Rumble was called for boarding late in the previous frame.
The Thunder appeared to have a go-ahead goal when the puck seemed to cross the line, only to be scooped out by Admiral defenseman TJ Melancon. But referee Jacob Rekucki ruled no-goal and play continued.
Edwardh put Adirondack ahead, 4-3, midway through the final period. Then Norfolk retaliated two minutes later with its second powerplay goal of the night, setting up the overtime session.
The 50 shots on net were the most by Adirondack on home ice this year.
“It’s a thrill to just keep playing the right way,” Coach Alex Loh said. “You always have to take it one game at a time, but to look back and know we played that well is really exciting. So hopefully we can keep it rolling here. We’ve got one more home game and then take it on the road.”